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Kara no Kyoukai Dictionary
Translated by food from the dictionary bundled with the Kara no Kyoukai Limited Collector's Edition (空の境界 限定愛蔵版). Dictionary Aozaki Touko (Character) She looks like a woman in her late 20s. Touko is the guide in this tale, yet at the same time she is an outsider. The owner of the Workshop, Garen no Dou. She is one of the magi that appear in this tale, and makes a living by crafting puppets. Touko is an individual with dual personalities, and the switch is made by putting on and taking off her glasses. With her glasses on, Touko is objective and ruthless; yet without her glasses, she is subjective and emotional. Which one is the real Aozaki Touko, even Touko herself does not really know. Emotional or not, Touko is fundamentally a romanticist. Touko loves new things, and will tinker restlessly with things that she is interested in. She is also a speed demon. Although Kara no Kyoukai will not be a story without Touko, she does not constitute the body of the tale. Touko hates her name, yet she has a habit of always wearing one piece of orange-coloured accessory. Even though Touko has a younger sister, their relationship is extremely bad. Red leather jacket (Accessory) Shiki's favorite outfit. Only the all-important Mikiya is oblivious to the reason that Shiki loves this outfit. It seems Shiki is fine with any red leather jacket. She insists that "I will switch to a new one if this one gets worn out". Akimi Daisuke (Character) A man in his early 30s. He is the brother of Kokutou Mikiya, and a police officer. He likes his brother Mikiya, treating him as an equal friend despite the gap in age. Daisuke is the type of man that treasures the smallest happiness. He has a strong sense of justice, but he is not bound by his own belief. Due to some minor incident, Daisuke met the information broker Aozaki Touko. Since then, he has fallen into a one-side love affair that cannot be realized. Daisuke is just this kind of mature man who can find joy in unrequited love. (Translator's Note: T_T) Asagami Fujino (Character) A girl in her late teens. She is one of the three that made contact with Shiki et al. A natural ESPer. Fujino is a student of the Reien Girls' Academy. Although the Academy rarely allows students to go outside, Fujino is allowed to enter the city twice a month due to periodic medical appointments. She is one of the triggers of the events in the story. Although she has a mild and passive personality, Fujino is the type that cannot stop on her own accord after straying once. Because she lacks some type of sensation, she cannot truly experience things despite having knowledge and common sense. Compared to Shiki who lacks a sense of existence, Fujino is someone who is similar yet different. Pure statistics-wise, Fujino has the greatest ability in this tale. (Translator's Note: Power Level!!!) In the later half of the incident, Fujino temporarily reverted back to an infantile state due to her thoughts being paralyzed by pain. In the story, Asagami Fujino walked onto the bridge in order to feel the beating of the memorable summer rain. Ahnenerbe (Location) A cafe where meetings and dates takes place. The strawberry pie there is said to be unmatched. The only link with another tale. Sometimes, a foreign vampire or a habit-wearing nun come to have tea. Souren Araya (Character) A man looks to be about 45 years old. Magus. A face carved with grief, a robust body unusual for a magus. These characteristics exert immense pressure on his opponents that seems almost nauseating. Although Araya is average as a magus, his talents relating to Bound Field construction is exceptional. A bound field divides what is inside from the outside. In order to construct a complete world from his own body, first Araya must complete himself. Araya, who has no exceptional talents, is able to become a first-class bound field master by completing himself through the accumulation of ages and sheer determination. That which divides the inside from the outside, Kara no Kyoukai is his story. Araya symbolizes the paradoxical spiral, the most important event in this tale. Talking about the impossible, what Araya accomplished is like achieving the pinnacle within a field while being completely oblivious of even the name of this subject field. Araya embodies the "accident of not knowing what is true and false", and the "accident of not learning the truth that has become common knowledge". As a result, it is absolute that the paradox will persist until the very end. Stone-head-like stone head (Others) Not a typographic error. Shiki occasionally behaves as such. As Touko said, it is evidence that Shiki lives by feelings alone. Colours (Accessory) Elementary colours. It is not a reaction from the three elementary colours, but impressions given by objects. It is a decoration hidden in the story, as the names of characters insinuate certain colours. To describe it from a more difficult to understand perspective: the colourless Shiki, the transparent Kirie. (Translator's Note: Not exactly your straight forward wordplay, but perhaps that was the intention.) Ether lump (Others) Ether, the Fifth Imaginary Substance as coined by the Association. It is a necessary medium that gives shape by mixing with the Four Elements. It is shapeless, but it is a critical element in the functioning of magecraft. Ether is bound to become one of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind, but in the hands of a novice, it would fail to become one of the Four Elements and materialize. This is ether lump. Ether lump is completely useless. In some sense, creating ether lump is analogous to creating "Nothingness". Looking at it from this perspective makes it sound like "True Magic" In fact, ether lump is originally the First Magic's ---------- Enjou Tomoe (Name) A youth in his late teens. A part-time worker, tenant of the Ogawa Apartment. He ran away from home. .... an unusual individual. He had a small build and feminine features. He would be a bishounen if he maintained silence. He was aggressive and lacked tolerance, so he frequently got into fights. He encountered Shiki through some trivial matters, and graduately became involved in strange incidents. ----- Of course, the gears had malfunctioned since the very beginning. Ouji Misaya (Name) A girl in her late teens. A faerie-user. She was a student of the Reien Girl's Academy, and an upperclassman of Kokutou Azaka. Misaya was a talented girl who was the chairwoman of the student committee until the last year, an impeccable mistress. Azaka once said, she was more of an intimidating empress rather than a cute princess. She led the mindless familiars while conducted multiple parallel cognitive processes, demonstrating characteristics found in Alchemists. This was probably because the magus who acted as her mentor was a student of Atlas. Although she clashed with Azaka like water and oil, their secret desires were very similar. Ogawa Apartment (Location) The stage of Paradox Spiral. A ten-story apartment with a complex structure. The designer was Aozaki Touko. A temple of Taiji. It could be called the artificial manifestation of the inner landscape of Araya Souren, who did not have a Reality Marble. The name of the Boundary Field here was Hounouden Rokujyuyonshou ("The 64 Layers of the Hounou Temple"). ' ' (Others) If you really wished to pronounce this term, call it "Kara". Its meaning varied depending on each individual's understanding. To put it in simple terms, it was the Spiral of Origin. However, since the Spiral of Origin was called the Spiral of Origin, it was no longer ' '. To properly express this term was a source of headache during the production of the drama CDs. Kara no Kyoukai Shi (Others) The publication of Kara no Kyoukai on the homepage in 1998. The title Kara no Kyoukai (Boundary of Emptiness), reflected the character Araya Souren. As a result, the story on the homepage ended at Paradox Spiral. The story of Kara no Kyoukai already ended at Paradox Spiral. The subsequent two chapters were the epilogue of the story between Ryougi Shiki and Kokuto Mikiya. They were released in summer 1999 as copy-shi (a kind of doujinshi). Garan no Dou (Temple Hall, Location) A contract-based production company operated by Aozaki Touko. Although the majority of the jobs were puppet-making, if Touko was interested, all sorts of jobs were accepted. It even produced anime. Almost no one approached the Garan no Dou because a Boundary Field was deployed over the workshop. People who had no business there avoided it subconsciously. It appeared to be an abandoned building, and it really was an abandoned building. (Translator's Note: NO SHIT BRO.) Touko purchased this building which was abandoned mid-construction and insisted on calling it her office. The first floor was just ruins. The second and third floors were where Touko worked. The fourth floor was the office. Mikiya and Shiki had only seen the fourth floor. Origin (Others) The direction of everything that arose from fundamental cause. The α that enabled the existence of α, the absolute order that existed at the very core. For instance, something with the Origin of "taboo", regardless of being born as a human, animal, or plant, would always exist to go against the morals established by the collective. It was the idea that, independent of the process of reincarnation, humans acquired bodies and wisdom from the directional force at the point of origin, and acquired personalities that were only slightly different from their prior lives. Individuals who awakened their Origins would be consumed. This was due to "personality" being something merely on the magnitude of one hundred years; it would be overwritten by the directional force born from the origin. However, humans (human bodies) who were overwritten by their Origins would acquire great powers. Araya Souren learned the technique to awaken Origins during his research into the root of humanity. Of course, he only awakened the Origin of one person. Kurogiri Satsuki (Name) A man around 25 years old. A teacher at Reien Girls' Academy. He left a strong impression on others, yet at the same time he was so very forgettable. A smile. He resembled Kokutou Mikiya to the extend of making Azaka and Shiki perplexed. Although his countanace did not resemble Mikiya, the aura he projected was similar to that of Mikiya's. He was a magus who was uncertain of tomorrow (the future), but hopefully clung to yesterday (the past). Although Ouji Misaya treated him like a brother, it was unclear if they were siblings. He was not proficient in combat, but excelled in persuading his opponents. Satsuki possessed a very rare talent, yet precisely due to this talent, he was unable to demonstrate his powers. Ten minutes is such a long time. ------- One life time is oh so brief. Kokutou Azaka (Name) A young girl in her late teens. A student of Reien Girls' Academy. The younger sister of Kokutou Mikiya. A hatching magus under the guidance of Touko. A tragic heroine who was in love with Mikiya, but had him snatched away right before her eyes by Shiki due to her false assumption that Mikiya would always be alone. Because of this, Azaka trained with Touko as a way to spite Shiki. Different from Mikiya, Azaka was the perfect model student. She buried her affection and played the role of the "good little sister" when around Mikiya, but to Shiki and Touko, her true colours were all but exposed. She was a predator that always captured her prey, a wolf in sheep's skin. Her love was pure and beautiful, although a little twisted. Maybe this was why it would not simply disappear. Although she had no talent as a magus (Magic Circuits), she was still able to learn ignition spells due to her inborn ability of triggering spontaneous combustion. Since her spell-weaving skills were still not up to par, she wore the Salamander Skin Gloves that Touko gave her during combat. She was in this limbo of being only marginally relevant to the story. Koukuto Mikiya (Name) A youth in his late teens. Employee of the Garan no Dou. A very normal and unremarkable individual. One of the protagonists of the story, possessing characteristics of the Yang. Although he was related to all characters of Kara no Kyoukai, he only stepped into the maelstrom during one incident. Mild-mannered and caring, most people were very fond of him. .... However, for some inexplicable reason he encountered Shiki, who was his polar opposite. Subsequently, he was doomed to a long-term relationship with Shiki, for better or for worse. Be careful when walking alone during snowy nights, Mikiya. Since he symbolized the peaceful daily life, he was very popular among people who sought such things. Even after the story concluded, Mikiya still made Shiki restless. He was an example of "the scariest things are always found closest to you in unexpected forms". The protagonist of Tsukihime inherited the characteristics of both Mikiya and Shiki. Cornelius Alba (Name) Magus. An old friend of Touko's. Rumour had it that this young man was the next director in line of the Sponheim Abbey, an organization within the Clock Tower. Although he was fifty years old, he had the appearance of a handsome youth. As a magus, his abilities were first rate, but his personalities were quite troublesome. Although it did not appear in the story, his Familiar was a black hound. Alba, who could not easily love another person, favoured creatures who could easily love people. He had quite an air of a protagonist: donning his crimson long coat and top hat, strutting down the street with his black Doberman by his side. Shiki's Kimono (Accessory) A luxury item that was not immediately apparent to the eye. It appeared to be an unremarkable kimono, but the quality was revealed in the fine details. If you ask which part of it is haute conture, it must be that Shiki could still perform high kicks while wearing a kimono. In a related note, the early concept of Shiki was "a juxtaposition of Eastern and Western concepts" (or literally "an unhomogenized compromise between the East and the West"). Line of Death (Others) ' The constantly shifting, graffiti-like lines visible to Ryougi Shiki. The lines appeared on everything, and by slashing the lines with a knife, the object bearing the lines could be "killed". Since the lines posed no resistance, everything could be killed with the same ease. The Lines of Death are not the lines at which "an object can be easily cut apart", rather, they are the concept of longevity given form. Strictly speaking, it is not "tracing the lines causing the object to fall apart", but "ending the lifespan and killing the object". To put it into simpler terms, it is the erasure of existence rather than physical destruction. Ryougi Shiki is a living being, and she seemed to have a easier time seeing the end of a living being. This is because as a living being, it is easier to comprehend "the death of a living being". In order to see the Lines of Death of minerals or Concepts, she either has to become minerals, or use her brain and tap into her "imagination". In summary, the end (lines) of an existence that humans cannot comprehend is not visible. '''Compulsive Hoarding (Others) ' It is hard to say whether this is an individual's nature or just a bad habit. Many characters in the story were eccentric collectors. It was probably because they were hollow, and needed something to fill the void. 'Spellcasting (Others) ' A necessary step in the activation of magecraft. While utilizing an established school of magecraft, one must strictly follow a set protocol. Spellcasting is one step in this protocol. An analogy would be the application process of a document, which would include application, acceptance, review, and finally issuance. Spellcasting would be the "application" step. In the case of utilizing magecraft with a broad Foundation, spellcasting is mostly a convention. However, for those who practice their own style of magecraft, spellcasting has potent self-suggestive powers. In the bodies of magi, the Magic Circuits which shape magecraft already exist. Incantations are the "personal adage" that help the magi transform themselves. They are a method to efficiently activate and mobilize the Magic Circuits. Spellcasting is not a method to speak to the World, but a method to speak to oneself. Even for the same spell, different magi will utilize different incantations due to their distinct natures. As an aside, spells that speak to the World rather than oneself are classified as Grand Spells or Grand Rituals, and it is impossible for an individual to use such spells. 'Shirazumi Lio (Name) ' A twenty years old youth. Kokutou Mikiya's senior during high school, and he was more or less familiar with Shiki. He had handsome features, but did not stand out due to his quiet personality. He was one of the three who made contact (with Araya/Shiki?). He quit school for some reason shortly before graduation. Lio was the first chess piece Souren Araya prepared, and also the one he saved for last. However, the magus was defeated by the Counter Force before Lio could take the stage. Although Shirazumi Lio lost his commander, he considered it a fortunate turn of events. With the obstructive Araya out of the way, Lio was able to realize his own desire. He made his face to resemble Shiki, and chose the same clothing as Shiki. Only his hair was left golden, which conjured the image of a lion. (Translator's Note: No, it did not.) The obsession with the Anima was in his nature. Or, it was a gender identity disorder that he was not aware of. ... As far as his attraction to Shiki was concerned, it might be that he was attracted to the male personality rather than the female one. Lio was something that fell out of Kara no Kyoukai Shi, which was the story of Araya. He was supposed to make his exit before the evil mastermind presented himself. However, in order to provide a resolution of the story of Kokutou Mikiya and Ryougi Shiki, the serial killer must stay. '''Akitaka Suzurigi (Name) A man in his early thirties. Followed the mistress like a shadow. A servant of the Ryougi household. A person hired to take care of Shiki's education. A role model of a butler who served Shiki come rain or shine. A companion who was kept constantly busy by Shiki's willfulness and lack of common sense. He was on good terms with Mikiya. By the way, his wardrobe consisted entirely of black suits. He got along quite well with Mikiya. Strawberry Ice-cream (Others) ''' One of the few things that Shiki was fond of, also one of the things she hated. Even though she despised cold food, she always seemed to buy it from the convenience store. Regarding this, Mikiya made some amazingly insensitive comments such as ".... are you... are you trying to conquer your weakness...?" '''Seo Sizune (Name) A girl in her late teens. A student of Reien Girls' Academy. Kokutou Azaka's roommate. Future sight. A timid, introverted girl. She was incorporated into the story since the early draft in preparation of acting as the protagonist of Gospel of the Future. Although she was not very active in the main story of Kara no Kyoukai, a character of similar concept emerged in the side story of Tsukihime (Translator's Note: Author is referring to Seo Akira. Note identical last names.) Gospel of the Future would be a story about her chat with Mikiya. The setting would be Ahnenerbe. The planned length was about 30 pages. In terms of chronological order, Gospel of the Future would take place before Paradox Spiral. In it, Sizune would advice Mikiya "if you keep going like this, you could die very soon". In Paradox Spiral, the content of Mikiya's reply to Enjou Tomoe was the exact opposite of that. It seemed Mikiya was lying there. Taiji (Others) ''' A philosophy originated in ancient China, a graphical representation of the Yin-Yang theory. It attempts to capture the essence of everything on a conceptual level: those that are active are defined as Yang (white), and the opposite are defined as Yin (black). The Taiji symbolizes opposing concepts such as day and night, light and darkness, male and female. At the same time, you may also call it a condensed version of the ever-changing, dynamic World. Furthermore, there is a dot of Yin in Yang, and conversely a dot of Yang in Yin. This indicates that the distinction between Yin and Yang is not absolute. There is darkness even in light. Taiji is the "one" at the beginning, the Yin and Yang that divide the "one" are called Liangyi (Translator's Note: Liangyi is read as Ryougi in Japanese. Shiki's name alludes to this concept of Yin/Yang duality). As an aside, the magi in this story were all practitioners of Western magecraft who were incompatible with Chinese philosophies. '''ESP (Others) Abnormal powers. Functions that normal humans do not possess. A kind of circuitry that leads to what are commonly called paranormal activities. Different from magecraft, inborn talents are absolutely necessary for ESP. Those possessing ESP circuits can induce paranormal phenomenons as naturally as breathing. The ESPers themselves take ESP for granted, and treat it as something they simply "can do". They only realise that they are abnormal after others (who can only comprehend "normal") have pointed it out. In this story, Asagami Fujino is an ESPer, but since she was tampered with somewhat, her ability falls between ESP and magecraft. ESP is normally an incidental occurrence, a sudden mutation limited to one generation. Eyes of Direct Death (Others) Ryougi Shiki's ESP. Although it has some characteristics that are similar to the Mystic Eyes in magecraft, it is classified as an ESP. Eyes of Direct Death allows the user to perceive the the conceptual "Death of an Existence" as visual signals. Death emerges to the surface of an existence (objects, animals, etc) as lines. Cutting along the lines will result in "Death", regardless of the constitution or properties of the object. Ryougi Shiki acquired this power after spending two years in a comatose state and contacted " " (Kara) for a prolonged period of time. Shiki's body already had the ability to perceive the Lines of Death, the accident merely awakened this power. Of course, Eyes of Direct Death is only one aspect of the powers of this body called "Ryougi Shiki". Tsukihime (Others) A Visual Novel Game written by Kinoko Nasu. It was a story about a youth who had Mystic Eyes of Death Perception just like Ryougi's. It shared many similarities with Kara no Kyoukai, and the two were also subtly connected. It was published as a doujin work, and is currently out of print. The remake seemed to be in the works, or maybe not...? Drama CD (Others) These seemed to be sold quite a while ago. They are quite rare right now. There were all sorts of mature matters in it and its existence is being erased. By the way, the chapter converted to Drama CD was Overlooking View. It seemed the portion of the story with the least action made it into the Drama CD. The voice actors were all veterans. It was an all-star cast that boggled the mind at that time. Spontaneous Combustion (Others) ''' The so-called unexplained phenomenon of human combustion. It was the spell that Kokutou Azaka favoured. However, it was closer to ESP than magecraft. In terms of ESP, it would be called Pyrokinesis. Spontaneous Combustion is a method of attack that causes the target to self-combust, rather than immolating the target directly. There are many theories which explain Spontaneous Combustion, Azaka's Spontaneous Combustion can be explained by an amalgamation of the Charged Corpus Theory and the Electromagnetism Theory. The Charged Corpus Theory suggests that the human body produces electrical current during states of psychological arousal which causes Spontaneous Combustion, while the Electromagnetism Theory suggests that Spontaneous Combustion is a result of an increased release of electrons in the atmosphere. All incantations used to activate Spontaneous Combustion were musical notes, since Azaka comprehended magecraft and combat through music. '''Overlooking View (Others) The title of the first chapter, occurred in September 1998. Kara no Kyoukai was itself a ridiculous story, and this chapter certain led the charge. This chapter was written with the idea "if I go totally bonkers at the beginning and everyone accepts it, then I would be OK afterward no matter what I write". Although at the time I thought it was a gamble, in retrospect it was really common sense for a writer. (Translator Note: Not sure if profound reflection or just trolling.) Fujou Kirie (Name) ''' A woman in her late twenties. One of the three who made contact. A descendant of an ancient shaman lineage. A character defined by day-dreaming and floating. Kirie was a woman plagued by disease and spent her life in the hospital ward. After losing her sight, she viewed the world with renewed clarity, and was set free by Araya Souren with another body. However, without a goal, Kirie had nowhere to go. She lingered and floated, resulting in several victims. As an aside, the Fujous made a living by channeling (e.g. wayward spirits, Gods, etc). They are a house as ancient as the Ryougis and Asakamis. Although the itako of Mount Osore lost their sight due to looking into the realm of the dead, Kirie's power blossomed as a result of losing her sight to illness. '''Mystic Eyes Killers (Accessory) A magical construct capable of suppressing the power of Mystic Eyes. Since Mystic Eyes are a power derived from the oculus, Mystic Eyes Killers are commonly made into glasses. The glasses Touko wore are also Mystic Eyes Kilers. The protagonist of Tsukihime, Tohno Shiki, acquired Mystic Eyes Killers crafted by Touko from someone. They relieved him of the unbearable sight of Death, and allowed him to live normally again. This also reflected just how self-abusive Ryougi Shiki was, declining the Mystic Eyes Killers. No... it was more an episode that reflected her heart of clear water. As a side note, Touko poured an obscene amount of money into constructing Ryougi Shiki's Mystic Eyes Killers, but Shiki shoved them back saying "Why should I do it to please you?" The reason Shiki declined the Mystic Eyes Killer was the same as when she refused to wear the uniform of Reien Girls' Academy. Magecraft (Others) A general term representing activities that artificially reenact Mysteries/Miracles. Although there were some differences depending on traditions and schools, the basic principle was still "the transformation of the magical energy that exists within the practitioner or the environment". The practitioner would issue Commands according to the Foundation (System) of his school, and this would cause the execution of a predetermined Program. Magical energy was the electrical current required to deliver the command. Although magecraft gave the impression of omnipotence, it fundamentally produced Mystery through the principle of equivalent exchange. It was possible to transform one thing into another, but it was impossible to produce something from nothing. However, the essence of magecraft as a discipline was to challenge that "Nothingness", and endeavor towards the impossible. Large-scale spells such as the so-called Grand Sorceries, Grand Rituals were really purposeless if not for attempting to reach " " (Kara) or True Magic. Kara no Kyoukai was a story of one magus' attempt at challenging "Nothingness". Magic Circuits (Others) ' The pseudo-nerves existing in the body of a magus. They are the paths that convert life force into prana, as well as the paths which connect to the foundations underlying Grand Rituals. The number of Magic Circuits is determined at birth. Mage lineages will resort to any means to alter themselves in hope of giving their descendants just one more Circuit. This is why magi from older lineages are more powerful. In terms of the number of Magic Circuits, and the quality of the lineage, Cornelius Alba is undoubtedly a first rate magus. In fact, neither Aozaki Touko nor Araya Souren have many Magic Circuits. Touko has about 20, Araya about 30. Still, the two are considered geniuses: Touko has talents that are independent of her lineage. Araya's overwhelming power is probably a result of the anguish that he ceaselessly accumulated through the ages. '''Mage Association (Others) ' A self-defense organization formed by practitioners of magegraft, transcending nationality and genre. (Of course, this is in name only.) Its mission is to manage, conceal, and develop magecraft. It reserves the use of force to protect itself from entities that threaten its existence (the Church, other mage organizations, and individuals who hunt what they consider taboo). In order to promote the development (or regression?) of magecraft, the Association set up research institutions and established laws that forbid the criminal use of magecraft. The headquarter of the Association is in London, England. It is also called the Clock Tower. The Association is divided into three departments. Besides the Clock Tower, there are also the "Giant's Cellar" in the Atlas mountains in Egypt, and the "Sea of Astray", the integrated association in Northern Europe. The "Sea of Astray" was the original Association that predated the Clock Tower, and had ceased communication with the Association since the Clock Tower became the headquarter. Also, the Association deems the Magic Foundation of the Middle East and the philosophies of magecraft from the continent* as incompatible with its teachings. Conversely, the other two schools also reject the Association. Furthermore, as Alba stated in the story, the mage organizations in Japan did not join the Association. 'True Magic (Others) ' A Mystery different from magecraft. The final destination of every magus. "True Magic" achieves things that cannot be realized in a given era. An "outcome" which can be achieved through the investment of time and resources is not True Magic. Currently, the Association has determined five Magics. The so-called First and Second Magic are only known by a limited few in the Church. Although it is said that no more new "Magics" will emerge, Kokuto Mikiya insightfully pointed out the unrealized Magic. '''Paradox Spiral (Chapter Title) The title of the fifth chapter. The grand finale of the tale that was Kara no Kyoukai Shi. This was the only chapter where Shiki was armed. (Translator's Note: A knife is not a weapon, apparently.) It seemed that it was determined from the initial planning stage that there would be only one chapter where Shiki would wield a sword. From the initial concept, it seemed the idea was "this would be the shortest chapter. If other chapters were one hour long when animated, this one would be thirty minutes". What were we thinking about at that time? This was truly worrisome. Faeries (Others) Ouji Misaya's Familiars. Originally, Faeries are considered the nature's sense of touch, something that humans cannot perceive. However, there are indeed some Faeries who were born wearing humans' imagination as shells. Ouji Misaya's Familiars are false Faeries. They are formless low-rank Spirits possessing the image of woodland Faeries. They can indeed wield a portion of the original Faeries' powers due to wearing Faerie-like shells. The Faerie-disguises are thought to be the creation of Misaya's Master rather than hers. As an aside, true Faeries at the scale of capable of being perceived by humans are called Elementals. A certain white vampire seemed to be of this class. One more thing, the Foundation of Faeries and Elementals are of a Mystery that cannot be reached through magecraft. Counter Force (Others) The Counter Force here is the safety device formed by the collective unconsciousness. The prayer to avert the demise of mankind, Alaya. And the prayer to extend the life of the planet, Gaia. These are the two aspect of the Counter Force. Both aspects have the goal of extending the existence of the current World. They will eradicate the factors that threaten to destroy the World at the moment of their occurance. Since the Counter Force is the unconscious, its appearance draws no attention, and no one will recognize it. The Counter Force is a formless spiral of power. It adjusts its scale based on the target that needs to be obliterated. The Counter Force will always appear with a status above the target, enough to absolutely secure a victory. Normally, the Counter Force empowers "a normal person" to remove the factor that can trigger destruction. As a result, these individuals are worshiped as "Heroes". Individuals who became Heroes through the aspect of Alaya are said to be integrated into Alaya after death. However, the accuracy of this statement is uncertain. These individuals are also called Counter Guardians. The emphasis here is "Counter", because they have no autonomy and will only activate in response to an event. Riesbyfe (Name) Principal of Reien Girls' Academy. Age unknown. A pious Christian. When energized, she would engage in overzealous philanthropic activities due to her excessive faith. The principal's office was decorated with a shield that would invoke the image of a violin. Originally she was not an important character that would warrant an entry in this glossary, but since she showed up in other works, I had to pick her up. Ryougi Shiki (Name) A girl in her late teens. One of the main characters of the story, possessing the characteristic of Yin. A killer who could not kill. She used a coarse male speech pattern, and used Ore as her first person pronoun. She had a cold personality and appeared to care about nothing. She had only worn kimono up to the age of 16, but due to the comment of her high school peers, she bought a leather jacket. After that, she began this strange getup of wearing a leather jacket over a kimono during winter. Although it seemed that she was concerned about her attire, but really she did not care. She just wore what she wanted, but the result was consistently "always kimono", "laced-up boots or geta", "...red leather jacket". Mean, heartless, and merciless, but occasionally she would react in a surprisingly feminine way. Like Mikiya said, it you want to compare her to an animal, it would be a rabbit or something like that. (Translator Note: A mean, heartless and merciless bunny). She was the second child of House Ryougi, who artificially induced dual personalities in their offspring. Due to her confirmed multiple personality, her brother was abandoned as the heir in favour of her. Because she was aware of her abnormality since childhood, Ryougi hated people as well as herself. Although she developed a cold personality as a result, secretly she wished to experience a normal person's happiness. .... Ever since she encountered the materialization of that dream, her fate changed drastically. She had a male personality known as "SHIKI", but he was lost due to an accident. Subsequently she developed the ability to perceive Lines of Death. Was it a compensation, or was it a sequelae of the accident? After awakening from the coma, she did not have a realistic sense of living. Although in frustration she attempted to feel this sense of living through killing, due to various accidents and benevolent obstructions she never succeeded. With a uncertain sense of living, this listless girl continued to come to Touko's office day in and day out. By the way, Shiki's emotions towards people were quite animalistic. Regardless of good or evil, Shiki first divided people into "those she can be with" and "those she cannot be with". For those "she can be with", she would stay with them even if she hated them. Touko was "dislike", Azaka was "like", such were the categories. As to Mikiya, in the words of Shiki, "I don't know". Ryougi SHIKI (Name) The other personality of Ryougi Shiki. Lost. Killer. A personality of Ryougi Shiki who controlled the aspect of "Denial/Negativity". His speech and gestures were those of a youth. Although it was dual personality, Shiki and SHIKI were not a result of Dissociative Identity Disorder. For both of them, it was a matter of whose actions take priority. Even though SHIKI was responsible for Ryougi Shiki's destructive impulses, he was not a pure killer. It could be said that SHIKI despised his own impulses and voluntarily became Shiki's subordinate personality. However, the relationship changed with the appearance of Kokutou Mikiya. At the time of Ryougi Shiki's accident, SHIKI acted as the substitute and disappeared. The reason that Shiki still employed the male speech pattern despite the disappearance of SHIKI was elaborated in Murder Investigate Part II. Reien Girls' Academy (Location) Kokutou Mikiya's sister, Kokutou Azaka's school. A mission style all-girls academy. A sterile boarding school. Originally it was a sister school of some seminary in England, but recently other girls' academies had emerged using Reien as the template. The sponsor seemed to be Asagami Fujino's father. Category:Kara no Kyoukai Category:Dictionary